Red Dead Redemption 2 Gun Gameplay Gets Big Changes

By Jasmine Henry 23 May 2018

One of the most well-praised things about Red Dead Redemption was its gun combat. The game made being a gunslinger incredibly satisfying, as players engaged in action-packed shootouts, nail-biting duels, and made getaways on horseback, firing at their enemies. Many fans would agree that preserving – or improving – the quality of that gun gameplay is incredibly important for Red Dead Redemption 2.

At a recent preview event for members of the press, Rockstar Games presented a 45-minute long demo of Red Dead Redemption 2 and during this, the developer confirmed some aspects about the gun gameplay. One of these changes is the ability to “fan” the firing pin of a six-shooter which will empty all of the bullets in the cylinder and can cause a lot of damage. It sounds as though this could help players to escape from tricky situations, downing enemies or at least making them duck for cover when players need to make a speedy getaway.

Another change is the ability to draw a gun without aiming. Red Dead Redemption 2 will allow players to aim and cock their gun without firing it and they can use this to threaten NPCs, such as characters who witness a crime and threaten to inform the law. Though not all of Red Dead Redemption 2‘s NPCs will be afraid of threats and some may pull their own guns out in retaliation.

While these are a couple of big changes to the game’s gun combat, a couple of aspects will remain the same, including the return of the Dead Eye feature. In the first game, Dead Eye allowed players to slow-down time to line up accurate shots and clear out a whole group of enemies. Previous rumors suggested that Arthur Morgan’s version of Dead Eye will allow the Red Dead Redemption 2 protagonist to track quests as well as animals. If that is the case then it seems that Rockstar plans to withhold that information for now.

Additionally, Rockstar has confirmed that Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature “fun things” for returning fans, including characters that people will recognize. But many will be happy to hear that Rockstar has also considered how to build and improve upon those aspects of the first game and not just bring them back as is.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear when fans will get to view these gameplay changes for themselves. Rockstar only just released a new trailer for the game, meaning that it could be a little wait until it makes that gameplay footage public.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is set to launch on October 26, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.